Originally posted on The Waiting: Ahhhhh, can you feel it? Love is in the air. Or perhaps that is the sickly sweet smell of grapes that your child left behind the sofa three weeks ago. …. … …. OK, that’s totally what it was. Moving on. Valentine’s Day is less than a week away, and…

Tantrums are not forever. Tantrums are not forever. Tantrums are not forever. This is what I repeat to myself when I’m smack dab in the eye of the storm. I’ve gotten better at resorting to this mantra over the past year, which may or may not have anything to do with the fact that she […]

Originally posted on Discover: Since 2011, Emily Austin has built a loyal readership at The Waiting, her blog on parenting and motherhood. Emily’s personality and humor have helped her carve out her own corner of the web among thousands of family blogs. Through blogging, she has built a community of readers and colleagues, and eventually landed a…

So, there are many things I like about my life as a mom. These include having conversations with C about the glories of cheese; feeling a sense of personal accomplishment when she reaches milestones like potty training; and the fact that if I ever want to get out of anything, I can just say that […]

I learn new things every day. For instance, today I learned that we have not yet reached that point where we can laugh about that penny she accidentally swallowed last August. Nope. Definitely not a thing to bring up jocularly while playing the Sheriff Callie matching game. Duly noted.

I went to a lot of funerals when I was young. When I was 14, Mimi died. She had been sick and we knew that her death was inevitable, but it’s hard at any age to bury a grandparent. Then, my senior year of high school, my cousin T passed away. She was only a few […]

I’m writing my first post of 2016 on my phone. This is a thing I generally dislike because it seems so – I don’t know – flip? Like whatever post results isn’t an official piece of writing since I have a whole library of emojis at my disposal to use in lieu of words? 🎉🎨🐣🕸🍜 […]

When my friend Dawn from Tales from the Motherland emailed me earlier this week with the idea to flood the blogosphere with notes of gratitude, I honestly got a little nervous. Me? Find time the week of Christmas to blog? This week, I barely have time to breathe. But then I remembered that, y’know, taking […]

So, remember when I went back to work last year and basically became an absentee blogger for a little while? Well, one blog’s loss is humanity’s gain. Through my work at a nonprofit in Memphis, I’ve learned firsthand the value of giving back. We can all do a little – or a lot – to […]